The audience exists

Cooky comments frequently in the media on the dearth ofcoverage and the latest data set, which was published inJune, just as the Women’s World Cup began. She often hearsthat if there were more interest in women’s sports, morecoverage would naturally follow. “I would actually arguethat there is interest,” says Cooky. “The networks, by notcovering women’s sports, are containing and constrainingthat interest. The networks are giving us what they thinkthe target market wants to see. And even the way in whichthat’s understood is somewhat limited—as in, what do18- to 34-year-old men want to see?”She has plenty of data to back up her claim, which sheand several colleagues shared in a recent op-ed for espn W.The WNBA, for example, is steadily building viewership,with the 2014 WNBA Finals games averaging 659,000viewers, up 91% from the 2013 WNBA Finals. The firstgame of the 2015 Finals, between the Fever and the Lynx,drew the largest Game 1 audience since 1998. And whilethese viewership figures don’t match NBA numbers,Cooky points out the apples and oranges nature of thatcomparison. The WNBA season, at 34 games, has a muchshorter window to hook viewers, compared to the NBA’s 82.It also takes place during the summer, when sportsfans often prefer to be outside.

Women’s soccer is also gaining fans, with an average
of 5. 3 million viewers for the six 2015 World Cup matches
broadcast on FOX and FOX Sports 1—a 121% increase over
the 2011 Women’s World Cup. (For comparison, The Tonight
Show Starring Jimmy Fallon averaged 3.93 million viewers
during its most recent 3-month rating period, and episode
one of Breaking Bad’s final season drew 5. 9 million.) The
United States versus Japan Women’s World Cup final had
a total audience of 20. 3 million viewers, beating the old
record of 18 million viewers for the 1999 title game between
the United States and China.

Wins, however, are just one factor in a league’s success;
sponsorships and TV contracts also help to build affinity
with and increase accessibility to women’s sports. So how
does the National Women’s Soccer League fare in terms of
sponsorship and TV coverage? Make that three sponsors
and games broadcast on You Tube, while men’s Major

League Soccer, which averages between 142,000 and240,000 viewers during its season, has 20 sponsors andjust signed a $90 million television contract with ESPNand FOX Sports—all while the 20-year-old league loses$100 million annually.

Quality counts

In addition, says Cooky, “Part of the answer to the question,‘Are people still going to be interested in women’s soccerafter the World Cup?’ is whether or not ESPN SportsCenter,the local news affiliates, newspapers, and websites aregoing to continue covering the women’s professional leagueand helping build and sustain those audiences—not justthrough the amount of coverage, but also the dramatic waysin which they can present those stories.”In qualitative analysis, Cooky and her colleaguesnoticed key differences in how women’s sports werepresented compared to men’s. For men’s sports, announcersspoke with more enthusiasm and excitement, using colorfuldescriptions, changes in intonation, and rapid-fire delivery.Women’s sports information was delivered in a morematter-of-fact style, with fewer colorful exclamations and amore flat intonation.

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White works the sidelines
during a game against the Washington Mystics. Photo by Ron
Hoskins/NBAE.